« | Psalm 95 | » |
1 Come let vs syng vnto God: let vs make an heartie reioysyng with a loude voyce vnto the rocke of our saluation.
2 Let vs make speede to come before his face with a confession: let vs expresse vnto hym outwardly a heartie gladnesse with syngyng of psalmes.
3 For God is a great Lorde: and a great kyng aboue all gods.
4 In his hande are all the deepe corners of the earth: and the hygh toppes of hylles be his also.
5 The sea is his, and he made it: and his handes fashioned the drye lande.
6 Come, let vs worshyp and fall downe: let vs kneele before the face of God our maker.
7 For he is our Lorde: and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheepe of his hande.
8 To day yf ye wyll heare his voyce harden not your heartes as in the tyme of contention: as in the day of temptation in the wildernesse.
9 When your fathers tempted me, proued me: [yea after] they had seene my worke.
10 Fourtie yeres long was I greeued with that generation: and I sayde this people erreth in heart, and they haue not knowen my wayes.
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath: that they shoulde not enter at all into my rest.
The Bishop’s Bible (BB)
The Bishop’s Bible (BB) is a significant English translation of the Bible that was first published in 1568 during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. It was commissioned by the Church of England as a revision of the Great Bible and as a response to the Geneva Bible, which was popular among the Puritans but contained marginal notes that were considered politically and theologically contentious by the Anglican establishment. The primary goal of the Bishop’ s Bible was to create a translation that would be more acceptable to the ecclesiastical authorities and suitable for use in Anglican churches.
One of the distinguishing features of the Bishop’s Bible is its effort to maintain a high level of accuracy and scholarly integrity while also ensuring that the language used was dignified and appropriate for public reading. The translation was undertaken by a team of bishops and other scholars, hence its name. The translators aimed to preserve the poetic and literary qualities of the original texts, drawing on previous translations such as the Tyndale Bible, the Coverdale Bible, and the Great Bible, while also incorporating their scholarly insights and linguistic refinements.
The Bishop’s Bible was notable for its large, folio format, which was designed to be read from the pulpit. It included extensive marginal notes, though these were more restrained and less controversial than those found in the Geneva Bible. The translation also featured elaborate illustrations and maps, as well as a comprehensive introduction and various prefaces that provided context and guidance for readers. Despite its grandeur and scholarly merit, the Bishop’s Bible did not achieve the widespread popularity of the Geneva Bible among the general populace.
Although the Bishop’s Bible played an essential role in the religious and cultural life of Elizabethan England, it was eventually overshadowed by the King James Version (KJV), which was commissioned in 1604 and published in 1611. The KJV drew heavily on the Bishop’ s Bible, as well as other earlier translations, but ultimately surpassed it in both scholarly rigor and literary quality. Nonetheless, the Bishop’s Bible remains an important milestone in the history of English Bible translations, reflecting the theological and political currents of its time and contributing to the development of subsequent translations.